WRTA bus rolls over driver in North Brookfield, killing her

Thursday

Apr 10, 2014 at 6:00 AMApr 10, 2014 at 2:53 PM

By Linda Bock TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

NORTH BROOKFIELD — An experienced and well-liked bus driver, getting ready to help her lone wheelchair passengerget out of the handicapped-accessible vehicle Wednesday afternoon, was struck and killed when the vehicle startedmoving downhill.

The SCM Elderbus, which is leased from the Worcester Regional Transit Authority, was parked in front of 7 Chestnut St. when it rolled down street for about 100 feet, eventually slamming into a house across from Chestnut Street at 74 Maple St.

Nancy M. Woods, 46, of 176 Maple St., Rutland, was taken to Harrington Hospital in Southbridge, where she waspronounced dead, according to Worcester District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr.

Ms. Woods, a widow and mother of two teenage daughters, was found on the ground outside the eight-passenger bus.

Authorities are investigating to find out what caused the bus to move after Ms. Woods had parked it.

The passenger, Christopher Dylan McGee, 45, was slightly injured when the vehicle slammed into the house. Mr. McGee, who uses a wheelchair because of a muscular condition, was returning from an errand. Mr. McGee said Ms. Woods was trying to lower the ramp when the vehicle began to roll, although he said he is not sure how things went wrong.

"Nancy was a sweet, kind, wonderful woman," he said in an interview this morning. "It's true she was trying to save me."

The bus may have been slowed by support wires on a utility pole, but carried enough momentum to crash and take down a porch and stairs for an apartment over the garagev when it slammed into the home of Larry Hoel.

"It was so freaky. I heard a loud bang, and I heard the house shake," Mr. Hoel said. He said he rushed outside of his house after he heard another loud bang, "That must have been when my deck went down."

Mr. Hoel said he went inside to approach the driver, and the passenger told him the driver was not inside the bus. Mr. Hoel then found Ms. Woods behind the bus.

"I told her not to move, and I told her help was on the way," he said. "I kept talking to her, and just tried to comfort her." Mr. Hoel said it was disturbing to keep hearing Ms. Woods' cell phone keep ringing from inside the bus, and later frominside the ambulance.

Mr. Hoel did not know exactly what caused the bus to roll. "I think she tripped and hit the gear selector," he said.

Another neighbor, Peggy Griffin, of 12 Chestnut St., watched the incident unfold from her front window. She had justfinished baking cookies, and had sat down to cool off. She said she looked at the clock on her wall, and it was exactly 3 in the afternoon when the bus pulled up to her neighbor's house.

In an interview this morning, Ms. Griffin said the driver had pulled up to the house, parked the bus, and walked around the front of the bus to open the side door. Mr. McGee had unbuckled his seat belt and had slid into his wheelchair. Ms. Griffin noticed that the wheelchair ramp at the back of the bus had not lowered. She said the bus driver returned to her driver's door. Ms. Griffin saw Ms. Woods, who is not tall, stand on tiptoe, trying to reach up beyond the steering wheel into the vehicle, and soon after it began to roll.

"I think she forgot to do something. I think she might have accidentally disengaged the gear," Ms. Griffin said.

Ms. Griffin said Ms. Woods tried to stop the vehicle from rolling, but she was soon overpowered and struck.

"As crazy and tragic as this is — even if she made a mistake — you want her family to know she did her best," Ms. Griffin said.

"I didn't sleep much last night," Ms. Griffin said, because she is haunted by the tragedy.

Timothy J. O'Day, executive director of SCM Elderbus, said Ms. Woods had just passed her 10-year anniversary of driving for the Charlton-based company. SCM Elderbus subcontracts vehicles from the Worcester Regional Transit Authority.

"It's shocking to all of us," Mr. O'Day said today.

"Nancy had a big personality. She was bubbly and everyone loved her," he said.

Ms. Woods was a widow with two teenaged daughters. Mr. O'Day said he was with the family on Wednesday night at the hospital.

Mr. O'Day planned to meet with investigators today.

The investigation is ongoing, according to the district attorney's office.

"I just feel so bad for her family. If there was no one in the bus, she would have let it go," Mr. Hoel said. "She worked with the elderly and disabled — she cared."

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.